


F.O.W.L Treatment

by orphan_account



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, a fan-written season 3 fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-22 16:27:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22218931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: co-written by @hubert_duck and @twigsfall on Instagram----Set after Moonvasion, Daisy Duck moves to Duckburg, soon becoming a secret agent for F.O.W.L. Her mission was to destroy the McDuck family by getting close to one of the children. The only rule she had to follow was that she couldn’t get attached to the child or the family. She thought this wouldn’t be a problem until she literally runs into a certain boy, knocking his red cap off in the process.
Relationships: Daisy Duck & Gandra Dee, Daisy Duck & Huey Duck, Daisy Duck/Donald Duck, Della Duck & Huey Duck, Drake Mallard & Gosalyn Mallard, Drake Mallard/Launchpad McQuack, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera/Gandra Dee, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 27
Kudos: 64





	1. Hey, Kid!

**Author's Note:**

> We do not own DuckTales at all!
> 
> Any relevance to future plot points is purely coincidental. We are not involved with the cast or crew and have no idea, like every other fan, what is actually going to happen. Please keep that in mind!

"HUEY!!"

"No.. no no no..."

Tears were running down the eldest triplet’s cheeks, his body trembling greatly as he felt nothing but absolute terror course through his bloodstream. How had it come to this? Just six months prior, he hadn’t been in any sort of danger. He didn’t have to worry about whether he was going to die, or if he was ever going to see his family again. It was kind of funny if he really took the time to think about it. None of this would have happened if he had never met her. If he hadn’t gone out with his brothers that one afternoon, none of this would have happened.

Huey had every right to blame her for all of this, he had every right to be furious and never want to see her again. He had every right to push her away and forget all about her, and in truth, that’s what she expected him to do after all this craziness had subsided.

But Huey wasn’t that kind of person. True, while he was barely breathing by now, unsure what fate he was destined to have, he knew that this wasn’t her fault. He was never going to blame Daisy for any of this. Maybe yes, while the reasons behind her actions stung like hellfire, there was just something within her that he couldn’t let slip out of his life, not like the last role models he had permanently deleted from his memory. 

None of this was Daisy’s fault, she never meant for this to happen, or for him to get involved — at first, yes maybe that was her intention — in any sort of way. 

Even if he was mad at her, he still sacrificed himself for her. She was worth it. Even though she had lost his trust, Daisy hadn’t lost the love that the red-cladded kid felt for over the past six months. Never in a million years had he been so close to someone that he’d risk his own life for. 

Yet here was with Steelbeak’s hand gripping him, his body about six feet above the ground. 

"That's what you get for getting involved, pipsqueak," Steelbeak snarled as he tossed Huey to the side of the room. The air felt cold as he hit the ground, his body barely moving, his eyes being the only piece of him that gave the notion that he was still alive, still breathing.

"And you," Gandra added, her existence being forgotten by Huey until she had spoken. She looked up at Daisy, her posture stiff and her eyes shining. "You should've followed along with the plan in the first place. You swore you’d never get attached. And you did. Look where that’s landed you, Daisy. Are you still happy with your decision?" The last of her words came out harshly as she closed the door behind her, and Daisy could hear the hurt and betrayal in her friend’s voice. The only adult left in the room shook her head in disappointment with herself, but it wasn't long before she had rushed to Huey's side.

"Hey, hey," Daisy said softly, picking the dazed Huey up and cradled him in her arms as she sat on the floor. Huey let out a painful groan.

"You took that pretty hard. Are you okay?" She asked, smiling down at the kid.

"I think so," Huey said weakly. "Just in a... bit of pain," he rasped. In a bit of pain was an understatement. What he was feeling was excruciating, but he couldn’t let Daisy see that. She felt bad as it was, and the last thing Huey ever wanted to do was make her feel worse for something that she had no control over.

"You didn't have to do that," Daisy whispered. "I promised Donald I wouldn't let you get hurt-"

"It's not your fault," Huey reasoned, coughing a bit in between words, relieved that the damage wasn’t so deep that he was coughing up excess fluids. "I made the choice."

"Why? Della is going to be worried sick about you- Donald, too, and your brothers," there were so many questions, yet so little time to ask them. Daisy knew she had to get the kid help, but she lingered there on the ground, just wanting to hold him for a bit longer.

"Why did I save you?" Huey asked, shifting his head slightly to face her fully. She nodded in response, giving him another reassuring smile that everything was going to be just fine when all of this was over.

"Because," Huey exhaled. He took a bit of a rest before his next sentence, talking being something that took more of his breath than it should, but Daisy didn't mind.

"You're family."

His words completely broke Daisy, and she started crying. It wasn't much, but her eyes were full of tears, and some of those tears were rolling down her beak. She still had a smile on her face as Huey continued.

"Uncle Donald always says that family helps family. And I'd say you're a part of ours by now, Aunt Daisy. You earned it," Huey finished, smiling weakly at her. Daisy had begun crying a lot more, and her smile was so much bigger than before.

"Your family is so emotional," she laughed, still crying from his words. She fully wrapped him in her arms and held him close, as he wrapped his arms around her, his limbs were trembling a little, having been numb from rough toss he had been given.

"I wish you didn't have to get involved in all of this..."

— 6 months earlier —

This was it. It was finally happening. After a month of training and painful conversations, it was happening. Daisy looked at herself in the full-body mirror, her hands running down her light pink coat-like dress. It was the best thing she owned, every time she put it on, she felt unstoppable — and she was. She clicked her black heels together, the bows that were on the front always made gave her a classy feeling, as though she were a twenties beauty queen living in the modern age. She took a deep breath, staring at her reflection for a long while. This was a huge opportunity for her. This new job was going to give her a restart on her life, a fresh and new take on things. 

Daisy needed this more than anything. Her life up until now was less than desirable, and it wasn’t going to change unless she did something about it — and she did. She moved out of the dreary town that was only burying her dreams in a grave instead of lifting them up to the heavens. No one there believed in her, and she knew that if she stayed there, nothing would ever get better. Daisy wanted to do more with her life, and the first step to doing that was getting away. So she moved. The young adult wasn’t sure what drew her to migrate herself to the city of Duckburg, but something changed inside her when she walked down the streets, citizens passing by her with welcoming smiles and hand waves — even if a lot of them weren’t directed to her personally.

There was just something this city had that no other place could offer. She wasn’t sure what that was, but all she could conclude that it was an unspoken gem, one that you had to find on your own. And while she was intrigued by this, it wasn’t her main focus. Daisy knew where her priorities lied, she knew where her heart and head had to be to get things done. 

She smiled at her reflection, the bow in her hair perfectly matching the color of her shoes, as it should be. Order and precision was something she strived to have in every aspect of her life. The buttons on her dress-coat had a slight shimmer to it despite being of plastic material. It was a bit excessive to consider how the buttons looked, but this was a big day for her. After her initiation two days ago, she was finally going to get her first real assignment. The ones prior were just other agents acting, the danger being everything but real. As the training went on, Daisy could predict every move that the stand-ins would use on her.

It got quite boring in just a few days, but she knew that the credentials to become a true agent was that she had to be prepared for anything and everything. F.OW.L. was an excellent organization. Her bosses, the Buzzard Brothers, were well educated in their craft, and they took their job seriously, which was one of the reasons that made Daisy apply for a position. Like her, the Buzzards’ main priority was their jobs. The organization alone had a great culture of agents and supervisors, which was something Daisy fed off of. This was also the only job where one of the requirements was that she wasn’t allowed to get attached to anyone she would interact with on her missions. There had been a whole speech focusing on one ex-agent that had gotten attached to his target and couldn’t carry out the mission he was assigned. The good news, they had been told, was that the two were still together to this day. The bad news was that… well, it wasn’t said straight out, but as the air grew cold in the room and everyone went silent, no one had to utter a word for Daisy to know what happened to them.

Her purse swung slightly, the heels of her shoes clicking against the concrete as she made her way towards the building F.O.W.L. was located at. It was strange that the place of business was in a thrift shop exterior, but she guessed it was necessary. If the organization’s true identity was revealed, the term ‘secret agent’ would be irrelevant. Daisy wondered if any other newbies had gotten their first assignments already. Her meeting time with the brothers was at one in the afternoon, the encounters only being known to the agent and the brothers alone. 

Daisy opened the door to the store, a blast of cold air meeting her face. Sleek, clean, black and red. Everything was smothered in nothing but computers, telephone lines, and the smell of smoke from the zones where everyone burned the evidence of completed missions. She adjusted herself, not acknowledging anyone that she passed, too eager to get her mission. Her heels were the only indication of how she was feeling. They were fast and short, both coming down to make contact with the dark gray marble floor on rare occasions. Her heart was beating in time to the clicks of her heels, the door of the meeting room getting closer and closer with each step she took. 

Her hands ran down the coat once more after she made it to the door. Okay, this was it. She had to keep a calm and cool composure, it was what the brothers admired about her. Daisy was unfazed by anything. Her reactions stayed stoic as they should be, her reflexes being anything but slow. 

“You got this, Dais. You can do this.” She took a deep breath before opening the door and walking inside.

Bradford Buzzard glanced up from his file, his demeanor not once changing as he saw the newest agent that had joined the organization a month ago. The brothers said nothing, their eyes being the only sense of information that gave the new agent the notion to speak.

“I’m ready for my assignment,” Daisy said confidently as she approached the desk of F.O.W.L.’s high command. They seemed a lot more intimidating than they ever had before. 

“Ah, Agent Duck, yes. Your first assignment,” he waved his hand, Bentley handing him a new file. “Tell me, Agent,” he glanced down at what was in the file. “Are you familiar with the McDuck family?”

“Heard of them. I don’t know much about them, though. They were involved with the Shadow War, weren’t they?”

The McDuck family, a group that Daisy vaguely knew about thanks to those news stories that were done about them. Daisy hadn’t paid much attention to it, though, her eyes too busy looking at different options of cities she could move to. She had no idea what they looked, or what their names were.

“Indeed.” Bradford nodded. “Scrooge McDuck is the richest person in Duckburg, and he and his family have gotten in our way too many times. We have to take a stealthier approach to defeat him. That’s where you come in.”

No one in the entire organization knew the reason behind the hatred towards the millionaire, and no one dared ask about it. Whatever provoked it, Scrooge must have done something terrible… but what exactly was that?

“Right,” she said in response to his comment about Scrooge. “And what exactly is my assignment, sir?” She knew she had to ask it flat out or this conversation would be going nowhere. Whenever the Buzzards decided to rant about Scrooge, it went on for hours.

“Your assignment, Agent, is to get close to one of the kids in the family. You’re to sneak your way into their hearts and destroy the family using the child you got close to.”

It was a bit extreme, Daisy couldn’t deny that. Going after a child seemed way to low even for the brothers, but there had been a recent attack here, she had read one day in the paper one day about an alien invasion. It was reported that the leader of the invasion, a commander known by the name Lunaris, came down to earth to threaten the children of the McDuck family. Daisy guessed the Buzzards were inspired by him, for they had redirected their entire staff to aim for the children instead of Scrooge himself.

“A little harsh, but I guess you have to be,” she murmured under her breath. “Is there any specific way I should do that? Or should I just wing it?” Going off of just the fact that she had to befriend one of them wasn’t enough. What if she talked about the wrong thing with him or her?

“Pretend to be interested in what the kid likes.” The buzzard answered emotionless, not having any sort of attachment or reaction to the cruel words he was saying. It was as if he had given this assignment before, but to a different agent about a different family. “And to get the family crawling to our feet, kidnap the child.”

“Interesting approach. Is that it?”

“Just one more thing that you do not do. Do not get attached for real. No good can come from that.” This was the most important policy in her line of business. The one thing Daisy was not allowed to do was get attached and go rogue on the mission at hand.

“Believe me, family has never been a big part of my life. Nothing can change that.” She promised. “I’ll do as best as I can.”

“Good.” Bradford looked down at the file in his hands, a signal that meant she was to leave them in peace. “You may go.”

She nodded and turned away to walk out the door, shifting her purse up her shoulder. Kidnap a child of the McDuck clan, a family she knew little to nothing about. This was going to need some major researching before she took any further action.

—————————

This was it. This was the last straw. Huey was trying to hold in his frustration, which he was slowly letting consume him, starting from the bottom of his webbed feet. The sounds of photo-snapping were what his mind was choosing to focus on. There were so many other things he could avert his attention to, but no, his brain just had to get stuck on that irritating sound. Huey tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for his brothers as they took their pictures. It was their fifth time stopping. How had they gotten back into those again? “Are you two done already? We’ve been in front of this store for an hour.”

Dewey shushed his brother before posing for another picture, Louie quickly capturing the shot before anything could interrupt them. He glanced at Huey every now and then as each picture was taken, each one having a different pose conducted by the middle triplet. 

“What’s the matter, Hubert? Got somewhere to be?” Dewey said in between shots. “I’ve been building up a following lately, can’t leave my fans dry!”

“Your fans?” Huey repeated with a stoic look on his face. “Why did you even invite me to come with you if this was all you were going to do?” Huey shook his head, sometimes feeling as though he was just brought along so they wouldn’t have to hear his complaints about how he had gotten left behind.

“Uh, because Mom told us to go have some fun? I thought you loved bonding time,” Louie replied. “Louie! I can’t hold this one for much longer!” Dewey complained.

“This isn’t exactly what I would call ‘bonding time,’” Huey made air quotes with his fingers. “I’m not even doing anything.” Louie took the shot, letting Dewey change the positions, telling him which one to strike next. Huey’s eye twitched once he didn’t get a response, soon turning on his heels to walk away.

It was funny how he had suggested coming downtown, but they weren’t exploring it. This was the one part of the city that they hadn’t been to, and this was how the two of them wanted to spend it. Taking photos, which if Huey was being honest, probably wouldn’t last that long. His head hurt from how frustrated he was, his eyes directed towards the ground below him.

Recently, he had been feeling his anger become more apparent whenever he was annoyed or irritated. His blood would boil slightly, giving him the indication of his frustration. Even if it was over the simplest of things, the fanning flame was always there to accompany and alter his words and actions. He needed to get away from it all, which was why he agreed to the invite to come downtown. He felt as though this would be a good way to settle his nerves and calm himself down enough to where he could control his attitude. This escapade was supposed to decrease that, but it only increased instead. He turned a corner, not realizing that he wasn’t the only one on the concrete sidewalk.

Daisy continued down the street, swiping through her phone. She was subconsciously thinking of ways to get involved with the family, but couldn’t seem to come up with one. “It’ll hit me at the right time,” she said under her breath.

Huey walked down the boulevard, his hands in fists, his eyes gazing towards the ground as to not give anyone an unwanted glare. “There’s just no, communicating with those two. It’s like whatever I say just flows right through their heads. I swear, I’m gonna hit them one— ah!” He smacked right into someone, falling back a few inches, his hat flying off his head as his body skidded on the concrete.

Daisy stopped in her tracks, dropping her arm which was holding her phone down to her side. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry— I shouldn’t have been on my phone while I was walking— are you okay?” She asked, extending the kid a hand. Already five minutes out and she had run into and knocked a boy off of his feet. Her eyes showed genuine concern, urging the kid to take her hand after he shook his head, refusing the offer at first.

Huey had one hand on his head, the other taking hold of the woman’s to help get himself up. His back stung lightly, not feeling any bleeding. “Y-yeah, I’m okay. I’m sorry I bumped into you.” He apologized.

“Oh no, don’t worry about it,” she smiled, “it was my fault. Someone got you stressed out?” She asked. Daisy looked at the young one, practically seeing the vein throbbing in his forehead.

“How’d you know?” Huey asked instead, looking around for his hat, bending down to grab it before the wind took it away.

“I’ve got a knack for reading people. You wanna talk about it?”

Huey sighed, placing his hat back on his head. He did want to talk about it. He needed to rant to someone. “I mean, I’ve got the time,” he looked back in the direction he came before looking at her, “do you?”

“I mean, I work on my schedule. If you’re comfortable with it. I’ve got a place I go to vent my frustrations. You wanna give it a shot?”

Huey chuckled slightly, nodding. “Yeah, sure. I’ll give it a shot. Show me the way Ms... I’m sorry, what’s your name?”

“Daisy,” she replied with a smile, “Daisy Duck.”

“That’s a really pretty name.” 

And it was. Being named after a flower, Huey had read once, meant that the owner of the name was one of great beauty and sweetness. Anyone named after a flower, especially a daisy was said to be an honor in the old days. It meant that the family’s daughter was one who would be nothing but caring and gentle, whether in her words, actions, or both. Huey extended his hand to her. “I’m Hubert, Huey for short.”

“Thanks!” She replied. “Okay, well, follow me,” she turned around, and then looked back. “I mean, if you’re comfortable with that.” 

“No, it’s fine. My brothers won’t even notice anyway.” Huey shrugged slightly before smiling, walking behind her for a few moments before speeding up slightly to walk next to her.

“It’s just up here,” she said as they approached a small hillside. It had a tree and a bench over the lookout— but it wasn’t too steep. It was completely deserted. “It’s small, but it works.”

Huey looked around, glancing up at the sky, his body slowly turning in a circle as he took in everything. “No, this is perfect. I never knew this place existed.”

“That’s why I like to come here. It’s like my little escape from the world,” she took in a deep breath and let it out as she looked around the city. “It’s got quite the view, too,”

“I bet stargazing is amazing out here at night.” He smiled, sitting on the bench before glancing at her.

She took a seat next to him and thought for a moment. “I’ve never tried that before. Do you like stargazing?”

Huey absolutely loved it. There was just something about coming out to the middle of nowhere during the night looking up to the sky while on a blanket, hoping to see a twinkling speck in the darkness of the sky. It was breathtaking, an experience that Huey never wanted to stop having. He was nodding before she even finished her question. “That’s my way of relaxing. I’m usually the last one up in my family at night so it’s peaceful. Maybe we could stargaze up here one night.”

“That would be fun.” Daisy made a mental note to come out here one night to stargaze if she was ever stressed out. “How big is your family, by the way?”

“Like, my intermediate family?” Huey asked so he knew who to point out. “Or my whole family?”

“Whole family.” She clarified.

“Oh boy.” Huey chuckled nervously before counting on his fingers. “Let’s see, I’m a triplet, so I have two brothers, there’s my mom, my uncle, my great uncle, my uncle Gladstone and cousin Fethry, my uncle’s maid and her granddaughter...” He hummed, everyone else is just really close friends. “I think that’s about it. My father was never around, though I’m not bothered by it.”

“Why’s that?” She asked, trying not to sound too nosy.

“I don’t know, to be honest,” Huey replied. “I never really knew him to get emotionally attached like that. Maybe he died, maybe he ran off. Neither my uncle nor my mom would tell me anything.”

“Huh. Well, if your family’s still functioning, that’s good, right?” Daisy replied, wondering why a man would leave a kid who seemed to be more than a burden. If he had died, she would be more understanding of the dad’s absence, but abandonment was something she just couldn’t tolerate. 

Huey nodded. “We’ve had a few rough spots, but it is good. What about you? What’s your life story?” He looked at her, genuinely interested.

“Oh,” she turned away, somewhat surprised he’d asked. “Well, it wasn’t the best family growing up. Family’s not a big part of my life— I don’t really plan to see them ever again. It’s not really my thing, I guess. It’s fine, though. Kids like you need a family. For me? Not so much.”

“Daisy, everyone needs someone to turn to in times of need. That includes you. Going through life alone, whether by choice or not, won’t solve anything.” Huey placed his hand on her shoulder gently.

“I literally just met you,” she laughed, “and you’re already the most inspirational kid I’ve ever met.”

Huey shrugged, not ashamed of that title. “I get that a lot.” He smiled, gazing out towards the city skyline, taking it all in. This was nice, just sitting here with someone who seemed to genuinely be enjoying his company. Daisy followed his gaze to the castle on the hill, the glass of each building causing the rays of the sun to shine even brighter, making the city seem all new and pristine. Daisy sighed softly, watching as the bottom of the sun disappeared behind the bottom of the city.

“You should probably get home soon,” she realized, as it was starting to get dark. “Want me to walk you home? I’ll probably never see you again,”

Huey was caught off guard by the last statement, turning to look at her in confusion. “Wait, we won’t ever cross paths again? Why not?”

“Well—” Daisy bit part of her beak, having to be careful with how she worded this. “We might, it’s not necessarily for sure. Maybe we will, it’s not like there’s anything I know I’ll see you at.”

Huey’s demeanor changed a bit, a sort of longing in his eyes. He hadn’t really been close to Della ever since she came back. Dewey and Louie seemed way closer than he ever would be, so he was wanting to see Daisy more, maybe actually grow close to someone who would break his trust like the others. He thought for a moment before looking at her. “I could introduce you to my uncle, just to someone so you wouldn’t be alone as much.” He said, trying to think of a way where they wouldn’t have to say goodbye permanently. 

“Introduce me? In what way?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. She wouldn’t necessarily complain if this kid’s uncle was a nice guy— she hadn’t had much luck finding eligible bachelors, but then again, she wasn’t necessarily looking too hard.

“Just, you know. Introduce you guys. He lives in a houseboat in my great uncle’s mansion.” Huey explained. “He’s a really sweet guy.”

“Is he? Maybe you can. When’s a good time?” She asked, suddenly realizing how desperate that probably must have sounded to the kid. “Not that I’m in a rush to meet him or anything! This is kind of awkward. Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.” He chuckled softly, waving it off with his hand with a soft smile. “I mean, whatever time works best for your personal schedule. We’re pretty much free at any time.” Huey looked to the city, the sun was almost completely gone. “Of course, you could walk me home and meet him. Knowing my uncle, he’s probably freaking out by now.”

“Well, I’d like to make sure you get home safely. Not to sound creepy or anything. I promise I won’t kidnap you,” she said lightheartedly, hoping she really didn’t sound creepy.

“I don’t know why you would, I’m not much value. Not as much as my great uncle is.” Huey said, taking one last look at the scenery, wishing he could stay up here to stargaze.

Daisy followed closely him as he exited the hillside. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Huey looked back at her as he walked down the hillside carefully so he wouldn’t fall. “My great uncle’s worth a lot of money, a lot of evil people want him gone.”

“He sounds like Scrooge McDuck,” Daisy laughed.

“That’s because he is Scrooge McDuck,” Huey told her.

Daisy stopped walking, staring with a confused look. “Seriously?” Her eyes shifted slightly, unsure of what to do. Had this kid made her job that much easier?

Huey stopped as well, turning around to face her before nodding. “Seriously. Why do you ask?” He tilted his head, not knowing anything about what she was supposed to be doing.

Daisy shook her head, taking a few steps forward and initiating him to continue walking. “Nothing. It’s just... never mind. Maybe I can tell you... later.”

“So there will be another time we get to see each other?” Huey asked with a smile, soon walking after getting the hint.

“It’s not like Duckburg is small, you know,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, that’s true. But earlier you weren’t sure we would,” he pointed out.

“I’m not sure about a lot of things,” she admitted. “I guess we’ll see.” Daisy stared at the young one, noticing the smile that had crept upon his face. She couldn’t help but smile back at him. As they walked, there was light chatter between the two of them. Most of the walk back was filled with silence, the only conversations that weren’t stopping were the ones that were happening in each of their heads. 

Huey looked up at her, finally deciding to break the silence that had been present for about ten minutes. “I hope fate lets us,” Huey kept his gaze forwards. Goodness knows he needed someone like Daisy in his life, someone he could look up to and cherish. Someone who he wouldn’t have to break all contact with. He wondered what she thought of him.

“Maybe,” she responded. In the short time of knowing him she’d grown attached to him; maybe in the way, the Buzzards meant for her too. “Are we almost there?”

“Yep,” Huey pointed to the mansion in the distance. “It’s right over there.”

“Wait— you live with your great uncle? You guys are pretty close, huh?” She asked. “Wait, you mentioned your brothers— do you think they found their way back?”

Huey glanced into the backyard where the pool and houseboat were, noticing the lights on, hearing some shouting from who he recognized to be Dewey. “Yeah, they made it back.”

“You sound thrilled,” she said in a sarcastic tone.

Huey looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “They’re the reason I was so agitated earlier.”

“I know. But that was a while ago. Whatever. It doesn’t matter,” she said quickly, knowing it probably wasn't the best to ring up that conversation again and let those feelings resurface. “I guess that’s it, huh?”

“Until next time,” Huey said, knowing it was a long shot to say such a thing. He glanced over at his uncle’s houseboat after hearing the door open. “Huey!” Donald called, gasping. He ran over to his nephew, tackling him in a tight hug. “I thought you were dead, or worse!”

Daisy watched the boy get smothered by what appeared to be his uncle’s love and affection. Daisy raised an eyebrow at the adult duck’s statement, but didn’t think she should get involved, so she kept her distance.

“Really, I’m... fine.” Huey tried to choke out as he was smothered by his uncle. “U-Uncle Donald, c-can’t... breathe.” He stuttered, Donald pulling away. “Come get inside, it’s getting dark.”

“See ya later, kid,” Daisy smiled at him before turning away, taking the suggestion to go inside as her cue to leave, now knowing that the boy was back home and safe. 

Huey looked at her, wishing she could stay a little longer, but also understanding why she would leave. He made a mental note to make sure that this wasn’t their final goodbye. Donald was heading back to the front door when Huey cupped his hands over his beak so Daisy could hear what he was trying to tell her. “My name is Huey!” He called back jokingly, she just rolling her eyes as a response, a small smile forming on her lips, though she didn’t notice it. Daisy glanced back once more just in time to see the kid enter the houseboat, the door closing behind him.


	2. Wherever You Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for your support from the last chapter! here's number two.
> 
> co-written by @hubert_duck and @twigsfall on Instagram.
> 
> We do not own DuckTales or any of these characters! Any relevance to future plot points is purely coincidental.

Alright, how had he been talked into this again? Donald specifically told his boys that he was taking not a single trip more to the grocery store. He wouldn’t have minded going if Dewey hadn’t eaten everything in one sitting with Louie yesterday. He swore it was the last time he’d buy excessive things for the boys, but then those eyes. Huey just had to pull those out when asking for more orange juice. How did the sailor fall victim to those eyes every time? Did Huey know just how powerful those eyes of his were? Did he realize what he could make someone do with that power he wielded? He probably did, Huey ever only took those bad boys out whenever he was really passionate about something. If Huey could convince Scrooge with those eyes, he could persuade anyone he wanted to.

Donald placed the carton of strawberries in the basket of the cart before wheeling it over to the aisle where all of the juice was kept, a soft smile on his face as he thought of his eldest nephew. It was kind of funny how Huey got him to do things. His brothers usually took a more active approach to it. Louie would trick him into getting things while Dewey would speak of nothing else for the next two weeks. That usually wouldn’t work, so the middle triplet’s next tactic was to hold his breath until his uncle finally agreed. Donald would freak out every time Dewey did this, having refused for so long that one time Dewey had passed out. Huey took a more passive approach and let his eyes do all of the talking for him. It amazed Donald how much the oldest triplet could get without even uttering a word or even being aggressive towards people. Donald let out a soft breath, looking at the different brands of orange juice, trying to find the one Huey liked. It was a good time to do some shopping anyway, so he had gotten a few extra things so he wouldn’t have to come back later in the week. While the rest of the family was out adventuring, he thought this would give him something to do until they got back.

___________________ 

This was absolutely crazy. A week into her mission, and she hadn’t made any progress on gaining access to the family she was meant to take down. Yesterday was so brutal for her that Daisy wasn’t even sure she wanted to interact with the world today. The Buzzards weren’t too excited when she reported back that she had only one encounter with the kid in the red hat. Did anything ever please them? It wasn’t her fault, it’s not like she had planted a tracker on the kid - which was probably something the Buzzards would have wanted her to do. Even so, Daisy had her own standards that she lived by. Never in a million years would she place a homing beacon on someone - especially a child. Plus, the red-cladded boy didn’t deserve that.

Wait, what was she saying? The kid’s feelings weren’t important, not in the slightest. He was just an object to her. That’s all the little squirt was, right? He was just a pawn in the large game of chess, which her bosses had complete and total control over. After this mission of hers was completed, she’d never see the kid again. They would stay away from each other after that. He’d move on with his life, and she would do the same with her own, both of them forgetting that the other even existed in the first place. That was what it took to be a secret agent. But… why didn’t she like the sound of that? Why was she becoming upset at the thought of never seeing the kid again?

She sighed and shook her head gently, needing to clear her mind for a while.

**_This is the standard romantic courting of adults, commonly known as a meet-cute._ **

Daisy entered the store, crossing down isles as she tried to figure out where the frozen meals were kept. As she never had too much luck with cooking, and she only needed to feed herself, she preferred to keep up with frozen meals. Passing by a certain isle she looked down, seeing a somewhat familiar male in a sailor getup. 

**_Anxious perspiration,_ **

It was a weird choice of clothing, but in a strange way, Daisy believed he made it work. He… actually quite good in it. She could tell that he wasn’t one to ever dress up fancy unless it was for something professional - like a job interview. 

**_Intense eye contact,_ **

Daisy caught herself staring at him, her eyes widening in disbelief. What on earth was she letting herself do? She was way too independent for that sort of thing. She tilted her head slightly as she saw him mumble something to himself and take something off of the shelf. She smiled to herself as she recognized him as Huey’s uncle, Donald. She walked down the aisle and smiled at him. “Hi,”

**_Coy body language,_ **

Now normally, Donald had always been a jumpy person. Whenever things caught him off guard, he went into full terror-cat mode. It usually caused most to run away, and he tried fixing it, but no one seemed ready to take on that type of problem. However, there was something different about the voice. It sounded softer, silkier. As if it belonged to a… oh no.

**_The only thing we haven’t seen is the awkward yet adorable accident._ **

Donald jumped into the air, dropping the carton on the ground. Luckily it hadn’t cracked, but there some small puddles of orange liquid here and there. His gaze shifted to Daisy, his eyes widening as he saw her. “U-um...” he gulped, suddenly going speechless. Who he saw standing in front of him was absolutely beautiful. From the black bow in her hair to her black ballet-inspired shoes, she was stunning. The smile that she was giving him was making his heart ache, a feeling he did not want to go away at all. She was so different from everyone else in Duckburg, and that fact alone was what made him want to know more. His heart was pounding rapidly. He recognized her a bit, just staring at her.

“Sorry,” she apologized, a light shade of pink spreading across her cheeks as she reached down to pick up the carton he’d just dropped. She handed it to him, smiling again. “I didn’t mean to startle you— and you’re probably even wondering who I am, sorry—“

Donald just took the carton from her, putting it into his cart quietly. He felt the urge to talk, but he knew if he did, he'd say something embarrassing and drive her away, which was something he wanted to avoid. It wasn’t every day that a pretty girl came up and talked to him first. It shocked him, really. Donald gulped, his gut telling him one thing while his head was saying the opposite. “I—... yes.” How stupid that probably sounded to her. Where was his ability to speak when he needed it?

She couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. A laugh that sent Donald’s stomach into a nervous knot. “I’m Daisy,” she cleared up, extending her hand for him to shake it, smiling a bit shyly.

Donald took her hand after a moment. Contrary to his, Daisy’s hand felt warm, almost comforting. Donald didn’t want to let go of her hand that seemed to fit perfectly in his own. His eyes shifted to the ground for a second before he looked at her. “Donald,” he returned, surprising even himself with how calm that sounded. Okay, his voice was there, now he just had to force it to stay so he wouldn’t mess this up.

“I know,” she responded, her smile growing wider. Something about this just felt... Right, as if by shaking his hand, she could be open about anything with him. Except, of course, her line of work. She let go of his hand and slightly shook her head, realizing what she had just said. “That— sounds weird, I know— Huey— I walked him home last week, he talked about you and then you.. tackled him and.. I left,”

Donald blinked for a moment before he said anything. Last week came to his mind, his frantic running towards his nephew before he choked him into a hug. “Oh! Right, I remember now. Thank you for doing that. I was worried about him.” His hand tingled slightly from where she had touched it, gripping the handle of the cart so it wouldn’t distract him, but this tactic seemed to fail him.

“He knows,” she told him, smiling as the kid resurfaced in her brain, her head seeming to ignore the warning signs of letting that occur. “So— um.. I guess it was nice meeting you,”

“Y-yeah, same with you... oh, wait. I forgot to tell you. Huey seemed really fond of you that night.” Donald smiled. “Feel free to come over and spend time with him if you’d like.” He shrugged, double-checking he had everything.

“Thanks,” she responded, slightly surprised. “He’s a good kid.” Of course, she had a lot more to say about the young one, but… she’d never see the optimistic kid again after a few weeks, so what was the point of even bringing up the rest?

“And maybe I will. Although, he’s not really the only one I wouldn’t mind getting to know better,” she said with a bit of a subconscious hopeful tone, her heart running wild with all the different scenarios of who knows what. “I guess I’ll see you around,” she finished, smiling at him one last time.

Donald smiled back goofily, his cheeks rising in color slightly, his eyes widening once he realized it. He averted his eyes, chuckling nervously. “O-okay... bye, Daisy.” 

She smiled to herself as she walked away, the energy of their small conversation making her somewhat overall happier. As she turned to exit the aisle, she shook it off and reminded herself of her mission. “You can’t get attached, Daisy,” she whispered to herself. “And besides— he clearly can’t even handle himself. And you do not need to fall for another man in need of saving.”

Donald looked down at his hand, the tingling sensation still present. His face was heating up, looking back at her just in time to see her disappear after turning a corner. He could feel his heart pounding out of his chest, his mind going blank for a moment, the only thing in his mind was the way she smelled. She had a cinnamon aroma to her. It was wonderful, and he felt it fit her well. He smiled to himself before shaking his head and picking up his shopping. He practically heard Huey’s voice echoing in the back of his head.

**_“Love is in the air!”_ **

_____________________

Huey tapped his chin as he stared out of the plane, the mansion just a few feet away. His mom was chatting away with his brothers, laughing about the adventure they just had and starting to plan the next one. The eldest triplet had tuned his family out for most of the ride back home, his mind wandering elsewhere. While he did enjoy adventuring with his family, he felt a lot more disconnected than other times. Della, his brothers, and even Webby had ventured ahead, already setting off all the traps before he even got there. Scrooge didn’t seem to mind it, and in truth, that wasn’t the part that upset Huey the most. But he kept that to himself, figuring it was best not to bring them down from the high they were currently on.

When they landed, Huey only waved to Beakley, walking inside right behind his brothers.

“That was almost like the time Donald and I took out a whole sea serpent by ourselves!” Della said as she walked through the front doors of the mansion. “I’m going to bed,” Louie groaned, clearly tired of everything.

“Louie, it’s only noon.” Dewey pointed out, Huey quietly taking off the backpack that he had been carrying around for the entirety of their absence. The middle triplet and Webby seemed to be forming a plan of what to do for the rest of the day. Scrooge was right behind Della, carrying the treasure they had retrieved in his hands.

“So, what’re we plannin’ to get up to today?” Scrooge said as he placed the last of the treasure in the convenient bin Beakley left out for them.

“I’m going to head into the city,” Huey told his great uncle, pulling out everything from his backpack to empty it out. Della glanced at Scrooge as her son said this. It was the fifth time in just two days that he was going into the city.

“Why?” Della decided to ask, knowing she’d get no sort of closure if she didn’t say something about it. “Got something you need to do?”

“Sort of, yeah.” Huey nodded, wondering if he should tell them why exactly he was doing this. “You realize this is yer fifth time in the city, lad.” Scrooge informed, unsure which side to take as of now. “I know,” Huey stated, making his way towards the front door. “I may be home late again, Mom.”

“What are you doing?” Della inquired, crossing her arms.

“Just uh,” Huey tapped his chin softly, “heading to some places downtown, grab a snack or something.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. He could feel his stomach growling softly.

“Every day? We have snacks here, you know. Didn’t Donald say he was going to go get some things while we were out?” Della thought out loud. “He should be back by now..”

“He should, that’s why I’ll... I’ll go out into the city and find him! Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.” Huey smiled lightly, quickly grabbing the door handle, running out of the foyer once the door was open.

Della exchanged an uneasy glance with Scrooge once her son had left the mansion, a suspicious look on her face. “Did he seem overly nervous to you, too?” she asked

“Ye mean more than usual?” Scrooge questioned, looking at his niece. “Yes, he did. It’s a bit strange, even for him.”

“Maybe I should follow him,” Della suggested.

“If you think it’ll clear yer suspicions lass, go for it,” Scrooge told her with a smile.

Della looked at him uneasily. “Do you think that’s a good idea? Should I be invading his privacy like that?” Della couldn’t deny the sinking feeling of guilt she’d have. By doing this, it was conveying that she didn’t trust Huey as she did with Dewey and Louie.

“Huey’s one of the most responsible kids in this family, Della,” Scrooge told her gently, “he’s the only one I would trust to go out in the city alone.”

“I guess you’re right,” Della agreed, a bit uneasily.

“He’ll tell you what’s going on when he’s ready,” Scrooge assured her, resting his hand on her shoulder before walking away.

______________________

Huey’s feet picked up some speed as he walked down the street. His eyes were moving from left to right, trying to catch a glimpse of at least something familiar. Was it a bit excessive for him to go out looking for her? He had no idea why Daisy had such an impact on him, but she did. And he liked that. There was just something about her that no one else seemed to display to him. Was it the genuine joy of hearing him talk? Was it that she actually listened to what he had to say, instead of letting the words he spoke enter one ear only to flow out of the other, without even being processed for the reason behind them? He mumbled to himself as he worked his way down the boulevard, the heat not even swaying him to turn around and go back into the cool air conditioning.

Donald continued down the street, grocery bags in hand, as he made his way back to the mansion. Everything outside seemed a lot more colorful than usual, along with a lot more vibrant. He seemed to be slightly humming a small tune, but didn’t think much of it. Every time he saw a couple pass by him, he just smiled, congratulating them on their relationship. He was so dazed that he had no recollection of the strange looks he gained after complimenting a mother and son on their so-called “relationship”.

Huey slowed down slightly as he saw his uncle walk down the street, the humming instantly catching him completely off guard. Since when did Donald start singing again? He hadn’t sung ever since he and his brothers were babies. He raised an eyebrow, Donald was never the one to be this happy. While the young one did want to see his uncle enjoy life, it was a bit off that he’d go to the store completely normal, but then come back a complete stranger. He watched as his uncle passed him without so much as giving him a sideways glance.  
_______________________

Daisy continued strolling down the street in which she’d met Huey a few days prior, smiling to herself as she remembered how much the kid had already changed her life. Never had she met someone so passionate before. How was a kid at his age so philosophical? Daisy would never admit this, but she quite admired the young one for his knowledge. He seemed to care a lot about whatever he talked about, and she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. He was an intriguing boy, and he always managed to captivate her with the things he said. She shook her head slightly, as if to remind herself that she wasn’t doing this for the right reason. She was using him, not getting attached. “Don’t get attached,” she reminded herself, “you're a professional agent. Act like it,” she added bitterly to herself. She hoped nobody raised suspicions if they had heard her— but she made sure she spoke quietly.

Huey kept on his way, stopping at every crosswalk, pressing the button so he could walk across. At this point, he was starting to become a bit doubtful. It wasn’t the first time he was out looking for her, and he still hadn’t found her. Had Daisy left Duckburg altogether? He couldn’t be sure, but at the moment, anything was possible. Going out into the city was the only option he had — he had no idea where she resided, and even if he knew that, it’d be weird if he one day showed up at her doorstep. Huey turned a corner, just planning to get a small snack in the café on the street where he ran into her.

Daisy stopped in her tracks. “Oh,” she said as she saw Huey, forcing her lips to form a thin line instead of a smile which was forming without her even realizing it. “Uh, hi,” she awkwardly greeted.

Huey had the door to the café open midway when he heard her voice. He turned his head, his eyes widening slightly. “Daisy?” He asked, starting to smile.

“That’s me,” she responded, trying to sound enthusiastic. “Um.. what are you doing here, kid?”

“Oh,” Huey let the door to the café close, but not before holding it open for someone, earning a gentle pat on the head. “I was, uh...” he scratched his neck lightly, “hoping to run into you again.”

“Really,” she said flatly. “Well, here I am, I guess,” she looked away awkwardly and then regained eye contact. “I met your uncle,” she decided to say after a few moments of silence.

Huey noticed the flatness in her voice, trying not to let it falter his smile. “Oh, you did? Where?”

“Um, just a few minutes ago at the grocery store,” she threw a hand up and pointed behind her with her thumb. “Maybe 10 or 15 minutes ago. Something like that. He was...” she trailed off, thinking of the right word to use to describe him.

“Different?” Huey finished with a slight chuckle. “All over the place in the best way?”

“That’s one way to put it,” she smiled. “But he was nice, too. I— I wouldn’t mind seeing him again,” she finished shyly. There was something about talking to a kid about his uncle who he lived with that just made Daisy fairly uncomfortable. She had _*a lot_ to say about Donald, but that was best saved for girl talk. “If the rest of your family is like him, I think I’ll like them,” she added.

Huey nodded. “I mean, they’re not all jumpy like he is, they tend to stick to adventuring. If anything, he’s way more down to earth than the rest of them.” He smiled, looking at her brightly. “He’s raised my brothers and I single-handedly before we were hatched. He’s very family-oriented.”

Daisy’s eyes widened. “That’s... wow,” she tried to find words to explain, but it proved unsuccessful. “He’s.. yeah. Uh, so, what’s up with you, then?”

Huey shrugged slightly. “Nothing, really. I’ve just been um, you know... trying to find you for the last couple of days.”

“Oh. Why?” She inquired.

“I...” Huey trailed off, his eyes drifting towards the ground. He wanted to tell her, talk to her about what happened. He wanted to tell someone, but there was something holding him back from doing so. His eyes moved to meet hers again. “...I just wanted to see you again,” he finished, covering up what he really wanted to say.

“Oh. Well, I—“ she was cut off as her phone started ringing. She opened her purse and searched around for it. “Sorry,” she said as she pulled it out and looked at who was calling, “it’s um.. work. I’ve gotta take it,” she said quickly, before turning and walking slightly away from the kid.

“Oh, alright.” Huey stayed there, sitting down on the edge of the sidewalk. “Agent Duck, it’s about time you answered,” Bradford said into the phone, the tips of his fingers tapping the desk he was at lightly.

“Sorry, I was in the middle of talking to someone,” she responded curtly. “Someone who’s involved in all of this,”

“You’ve come in contact with one of the children?” He asked, leaning back in his chair.

“Contact is putting it likely. He told me he’s been trying to find me for the past few days so I would say he’s getting attached. Is there anything else?”

“Just a reminder that your second weekly update is soon. When it’s time, you’re to report back to headquarters and give a status update. So don’t disappoint us or else. And remember not to disappoint us like last time.”

“Right. I’ll get back to it, then,” she took a moment and then hung up the phone, not really knowing if she should’ve said goodbye or not. She shrugged it off and walked back to Huey. “So,” she said to the kid. “Do you think I can meet the rest of your family today?”

Huey was scrolling through his phone, biting his lip lightly. He didn’t respond for a moment before putting his phone away under his hat and looking at her. “Yeah, I think that’d be okay.”

“Alright,” Daisy replied. “Everything alright?”

“Hm?” He blinked a couple of times. “Oh, yeah. It’s... it’s nothing.” Huey waved his hand slightly as he stood up, dusting himself off.

“It might take a while before we’re back. We can talk about it if you want,”

“I don’t want to burden you with anything. I did that last week.” Huey said, not wanting to force all of this on her.

“And there’s not anything wrong with that,” she told him

Huey looked at her and sighed. “Alright.” He gave off a small smile as they began walking, first wording everything in his head that he wanted to say.

“So? What’s up?” She started, not even looking down at him.

“I, um...” Huey shook his head, finding this harder than he thought. “Well, hypothetically, what would you do if, I don’t know, you were getting picked on?”

“Hypothetically?” She stopped speaking for a moment, collecting herself. “I mean, I’ve been in situations like that before. It depends on who it is. Who’s picking on you?”

“I said hypothetically,” Huey answered instead quickly, knowing how straight-up stupid that sounded, has always been bad at lying.

“Yeah. And I mean “hypothetically”, who’s picking on you?” She replied.

Huey fiddled with his hands. “It’s not like it’s a big deal, just some... you know, some... um, adults.” He mumbled that last part, unsure whether this would help or not.

“Adults? Like who?”

“There are these three specific people, but I can’t really remember their names.” Now that was the truth, Huey had no recollection of who they were or what they looked like. “It’s fine, though. Really, it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. How do you know them?” She inquired, genuinely curious

Huey only shrugged, his face staring off to what was in front of him. He wanted to say more, but this was something he wanted to discuss in private with her — like why he was looking for her last week.

“Okay,” Daisy looked down at him, and then looked up ahead again. “We’re almost there, right?”

Huey nodded, a smile returning to his face as if nothing had been weighing him down. “Mm hm, just around this next corner.”

“Right,” she replied as they approached said corner. “Who am I going to get to meet first?”

“Well, you’ve already met my Uncle Donald, so you could either meet my mom, great uncle, or my brothers.” He told her.

“Let’s just see who we run into first,” she suggested as they approached the door. “Lead the way,” she invited him to enter the mansion before her.

Huey nodded, smiling as he opened the door and walked inside, his hand lingering on the doorknob, holding it open for her.

She followed him inside, amazed at the layout of the foyer. She looked around, turning her head as she observed everything around her.

“I had the same reaction when I moved in.” Huey chuckled, tapping his chin as he looked around for anyone. There was some rustling in the living room to his right.

“Not to be weird or anything, but you know this place a lot better than I do. If you don’t mind, I’ll just follow wherever you go,” Daisy said somewhat awkwardly. “I don’t really want to get lost, either,” she continued. “This is going to be awkward, isn’t it,” she huffed eventually.

“Oh, right. My bad.” Huey chuckled nervously, grabbing her wrist gently, leading Daisy to the right and into the family room. He saw Della on the couch, who was watching a show. “Mom?” Della looked away from the screen and smiled once she saw her son. “You’re back,” she then looked at Daisy. “Oh, hi.”

“Um, hi,” Daisy said a bit too awkwardly. She kind of expected Huey’s mother to question what on earth was she doing in their house— but maybe she was just always like that. Daisy looked around the room, somewhat examining it and finding something to bring up and have a conversation about.

Della got up from the couch going over to Huey. “I thought you were just going out to find your uncle.” Huey shrugged slightly. “Did I forget to mention I wanted to find her too?” His mother raised an eyebrow before looking at the other adult. “I’m Della,” she introduced.

“Daisy,” she replied. “It’s... it’s nice to meet you,” she finished, not really knowing what else to say.

Della smiled. “It’s nice to meet you too.” Huey looked between the two of them quietly for a moment. “She’s new to town,” he began, not even sure if that was true, but going with it. “I thought, this would be a good way for her to get acquainted with other people.”

Daisy, not really knowing what else to add, just nodded and smiled.

Della only chuckled, taking his hat off to ruffle his hair. “I think that’s very sweet of you, Hue.” She looked at Daisy. “The rest of the family should be around, Huey can give you a tour if you want.”

“Oh, that would be nice,” Daisy replied, looking at Huey expectantly.

Huey smiled and chuckled, grabbing his hat from Della and putting it on. He walked over to the doorway. “Right this way, madam, and please watch your step.” He said jokingly.

Daisy followed him, still admiring everything around her. “How long have you lived here?” She asked.

“About a year, I think.” Huey inquired, leading her through the halls, showing her all of the portraits that were of Scrooge and his accomplishments. “My brother left my uncle’s houseboat on and it exploded, so we moved in here.”

Daisy’s eyes widened. “There seems to be way more to that story. I’d like to hear it one day,” she chuckled.

Huey nodded. “I’d be happy to tell you,” he smiled. “So you never really told me about yourself, only besides why you came to Duckburg.” He said, looking back at her.

“There’s not a lot to tell,” she said honestly. “Plus, all there is to tell I don’t think I need to be telling a little kid about. You probably wouldn’t understand most of it.”

Huey raised an eyebrow. “Believe me, Daisy, I may be a child, but there’s a lot more that I can comprehend. I don’t have this big head for nothing.” He knocked on his head. “But, it’s your business, and if you don’t fully trust me yet, that’s okay.”

She shrugged, deciding to ignore his last statement. “Where are we going first?”

“Either the kitchen or the vault where my great uncle keeps the treasure. You choose.” Huey said, smiling.

“Um, the kitchen, I guess,” she responded unsurely.

“Okay, cool. We can grab a snack if you want.” Huey smiled, turning right at the end of the hall.

“Oh, I’m not that hungry,” she replied. That wasn’t entirely true, but she decided to let it go and suck it up. It seemed better in the long run of things.

“A drink, then?” Huey asked, not wanting to seem like a bad host and not ask for that as well.

“I think I’ll be good,” she responded as they approached what seemed like the kitchen.

Huey nodded, walking into the kitchen. “Alright, just let me know if you change your mind or anything.” He smiled, seeing Scrooge sitting there at the table. “Hi, Uncle Scrooge.” The older duck looked up from his newspaper and smiled. “Huey, my boy! You’re back!”

Daisy couldn’t help but be a bit starstruck. Scrooge McDuck was pretty well known, and she’d heard many things about him— both good and bad— but meeting him in person was something she never expected would necessarily happen until she received her mission. As she followed Huey closer to Scrooge, she prepared herself and all the things she should say.

Scrooge engulfed Huey into a hug before letting him go, the younger one straightening his hat. “Uncle Scrooge, this is Daisy Duck,” he gestured to her with his hand, “she’s new to town.” Scrooge looked up at the stranger, smiling. “Good day to you, lass,” he greeted, shaking her hand gently.

Daisy smiled and nodded. “I’ve heard a lot about you, and not just what Huey has said but... a lot of different people,” she replied as she let go of his hand. “It’s really nice to meet you,” she finished.

“And to you, lass,” Scrooge smiled. “I trust Huey’s been showing you around alright?” He glanced at his great-nephew and then back at her.

“Yeah! It’s been great,” she responded, looking down and smiling at the kid in question.

Huey looked up at Daisy and smiled, becoming flustered slightly from the praise.

“So,” Daisy turned to Huey. “Where to next?”

“Backyard,” Huey informed, opening the door. “This is where my Uncle Donald lives.”

“Lives?” She questioned, somewhat surprised. “Why doesn’t he.. live inside?” she followed him out, looking at her feet to make sure she didn’t trip on anything. That was the last thing she needed. “Do you think he’s here now?”

“There’s a pretty good chance,” Huey chuckled, noting the sense of hopefulness in her voice. “Do you want to go in and say hello?”

Her eyes widened, forgetting about the questions she’d asked earlier. “Uh, no thanks,” she said quickly. “I don’t want to... invade his privacy or anything. He’s probably busy, anyways, right?”

“Not really, he’s never busy.” Huey looked at her. “But if you don’t want to, that’s okay. Maybe some other time.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” she responded. “But—,” she tried to continue, desperately searching for a legitimate excuse.

Huey raised an eyebrow gently. He saw the way she was having trouble speaking, so he placed his hand on her arm lightly.

Daisy pursed her beak and looked down at him. Though the kid’s hand was small, it was so comforting that she felt herself break, and she couldn’t stop the confession from pouring out of her beak. She frowned and then sighed, looking away. “I’m scared, okay?” she admitted quietly.

“Scared?” Huey questioned, tilting his head slightly. “Scared of what, Daisy?” His voice had become softer, more calming as if he was trying to ease an injured animal.

“Nothing,” she shook her head. “It’s nothing. Maybe we can go... elsewhere?” she suggested hopefully.

“Oh, yeah. The rest of the rooms in the manor are bedrooms and all that jazz,” Huey inquired, “and that’s not at all interesting.” He looked up at her. “Where do you want to go instead?”

“Um, I’m not sure,” she thought for a moment. “Just take me to the next interesting place, I guess? I haven’t met your brothers yet,”

“Oh right, if I’m correct, they should be somewhere out here,” Huey looked around, trying to see if he could hear anything that would tell him where they were.

“HHHHUUUUUEEEEYYY!!” Dewey called from inside, opening the back door halfway through his cry for his older brother. “Uncle Scrooge won’t let me use the scissors, and you’re the only one who knows where Uncle Donald keeps them on the houseboat.”

Huey looked at his brother. “Dewey, you’re mad with power when it comes to sharp objects,” he said, crossing his arms. “Why do you need the scissors anyway?”

Daisy raised her eyebrows in confusion, looking back and forth between the two. “I want to add Mom to my audience and she says she’s busy right now. And I can’t really do that without scissors,” Dewey explained, and then he noticed Daisy. He looked at her for a second, and then back at Huey.

Huey followed Dewey’s gaze before realizing what he needed to do. “Oh, Dewey, this is Daisy. Daisy, this is my younger brother, Dewford, or Dewey for short.” He explained, gesturing to each one respectively while saying each name.

Daisy gave a small wave and smiled as she gave a quiet “hi”. “Okayyyyy? What’s she doing here?” Dewey asked.

“I’m showing her around. She’s new to town, so I wanted to make her feel welcome,” Huey explained, smiling lightly in Daisy’s direction. “We met that one day when you and Louie were too busy taking selfies downtown.”

“Hey, that’s a very important thing to do!” He responded, sounding a bit annoyed. “Does Uncle Donald know about this?”

“Uncle Donald knows I met her, yes, but he doesn’t know she’s here now. Don’t worry, Dewey, I got it under control, really. I trust her.” He looked at Daisy and smiled.

Daisy returned the smile, a little bit forced, but she tried not to show it. Was there a sense of guilt starting to form in the pit of her stomach? He trusted her so much. No… it would be okay. He would never know her true intentions for him. “Okay, well, I’m gonna go find those scissors myself.” He said before running off towards the houseboat.

“I um, sorry about that,” Huey said, turning towards Daisy. He didn’t mean for Dewey to act like that, and he felt sorta bad that it occurred that way.

“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Daisy reassured, flicking the underneath part of Huey’s cap lightly. The eldest triplet chuckled lightly, trying to grab her wrist, but her movements were too quick that he missed it entirely. “So what’s next?” She asked, smiling down at him.

“Hm, we could go back inside. There really aren’t any other rooms to explore except the bathrooms and bedrooms. And I assume you’re not interested in those,” Huey said, looking at her.

“Sounds like a good idea,” she responded. She kind of hoped they would run into Donald again, but ultimately decided that would ruin her mission. At these points, she felt this mission of hers was more of a curse. Was Donald even considered to be a part of the mission? She gestured to Huey to lead the way inside anyway.

Huey opened the door for her, letting her walk in first, then walking in after her. “By the way, where did you move here from?”

“Oh,” Daisy said as he followed her inside. “St. Canard,” she replied. “But I used to live here. I was born here, actually, but my parents moved to St. Canard before I turned four. So I don’t remember it that much.”

“Oh, cool. I’ve lived here all my life, so it’s really the only place I’ve ever known. The adventures do let me explore, but... I’ve never actually been there to just enjoy the sights and all. Is St. Canard nice?” Huey questioned.

“It has its perks. I like Duckburg better,” Daisy replied.

“Why’s that?” The young one asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know,” she responded honestly. “It just feels like home, I guess,” she kept the fact that where she used to live had no Donald there… or Huey. 

“Well that’s good,” Huey smiled. “I hope it stays that way for you.” He beamed softly. Louie came down the stairs, looking at his phone. “Hey, Hue, do you know where my charger is?”

Daisy realized that this one might be the other brother of Huey’s, and understood how alike the three were to each other. He wore green, which seemed to fit his personality quite well.

“I think it’s in the living room,” Huey recalled, tapping his chin lightly. Louie looked up at Daisy after noticing her. “Who’s she?” Huey looked back at Daisy again, this whole introducing jazz always slipping his mind. “Oh, this is Daisy. She’s new.”

“Is she a friend of Mom’s?” Louie asked. Huey shrugged. “I would say more of an acquaintance.” Louie nodded, extending his hand. “I’m Louie.” 

“Daisy,” she said again as she introduced herself for the fifth or sixth time that day. She always added a slight smile with each one

Louie nodded, seeming to be more friendly than how Dewey reacted. “I hope Huey hasn’t talked your ear off with nerd stuff.”

She shrugged. “Not yet,” she laughed, looking down at Huey softly. “He’s just nice, that’s all,”

“I’m only nice?” He asked jokingly, taking the compliment anyway by smiling back up at her.

She shrugged. “We’ll see about that,”

“I hate to inform you, Daisy, but now you’ve made it my life’s mission to be more than nice in your eyes,” Huey claimed with a smile.

“Well, it’s safer than most missions out there,” she responded lightheartedly, not exactly realizing what she had just said. “So, phone charger. Living room? Got it,” Louie asked promptly before he walked past the two towards the room he had mentioned.

“Safer than most missions?” Huey asked after waving goodbye to his brother, the particular phrase had caught his attention and he wanted to know more.

“Hm. Well, you’ll understand when you’re older,” she responded, ruffling his head. “Speaking of missions, I think I should start heading home. Gotta warm up those frozen dinners for one!”

Huey smiled softly as she ruffled his head, but it faltered as he heard the second half of what she said. “Frozen dinners? Is that what you eat every day?”

“Usually,” she responded. “I’m not much use around the kitchen. I usually burn everything, and somewhere along the line I realized living off of peanut butter sandwiches wasn’t entirely healthy.”

“Why don’t you stay for dinner tonight? Give you a break from frozen dinners?” Huey suggested, his smile returning.

“Uh...” Daisy stopped for a moment, unsure of how to respond. “I don’t want to bother you guys. You’re nice and all, but I don’t want to feel like I’m forcing myself into your lives,” she added swiftly, trying to block out the voice in her head that was telling her that was literally her job.

“You’re not. I asked you to stay, not the other way around. And I’m sure my family wouldn’t mind, they all seem to really like you.” Huey looked at her, locking his hands together, his eyes shining as he gave her the same look he gave Scrooge on his birthday. “Daisy, please stay.”

Daisy’s eyes widened as she looked around, thinking of an excuse to leave. “I— um— alright,”

Huey smiled brightly, chuckling as he wrapped his arms around her waist, giving her a hug.

Daisy was slightly taken aback by his actions but forced a smile and patted him on the back of the head.

“Thank you, Daisy.” Huey smiled, keeping their hug in contact, liking this a lot. Daisy’s heart pounded, her arms shaking so much she didn’t hug back, only keeping her hand on the young one’s head. Her eyes gazed down at him. He looked so pure like this, as though he was the most fragile thing the world had ever known. And for a split second, Daisy thought there was no way on earth she could hurt this boy. She pushed the feeling of regret down in the form of regret, not realizing that it was still there, right next to the unknown fear of never wanting to see Huey get hurt.


	3. Something I Need

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one’s got a lot of stuff happening!
> 
> As for anyone wondering, yes, we will be continuing the story even after episodes start airing!
> 
> Co-written by @hubert_duck and @twigsfall on Instagram.

Dinner at McDuck Manor was the same every night. Usually, Della would get home late from an adventure, as would whoever decided to go with her. Tonight, it was Donald, Dewey, Louie, and Webby who accompanied her, leaving Huey alone with his great uncle and Daisy. The eldest triplet sat at the table, placing his fork onto the plate gently.

“So is this better than your usual frozen dinner, Daisy?” Huey asked after swallowing some of the water in his glass.

Normally, any home-cooked meal would be better than any frozen dinner. Daisy knew this, and she greatly appreciated the offer to stay for the night. But ever since the plate had been placed in front of her, her mind had wandered elsewhere. First, the topic that landed there was Donald. It wasn’t clear why, but she wanted to see him again. His nervous self, everything. She wanted to experience it all again. The stutter he occasionally had always had her smiling as she found it adorable even if she didn’t want to admit it. The next thing she thought of was the little squirt. The little stinker was really starting to chip his way past her brick wall. It was getting harder to keep her composure at times. The kid was showing her so much care and affection that she almost felt bad when she didn’t return any of his gestures. It was odd, she showed him little to no affection, yet he never fell short of giving her that.

Due to being lost in her thoughts, Daisy had barely eaten anything yet, so she was slightly playing around with the lasagna on her plate with her fork.

“Uh, yeah. It’s really good,” she responded honestly from the bit she’d eaten, glancing at Huey for a moment.

“Is everything okay?” Huey asked, looking at her after noticing the bare minimum of food she had eaten. It wasn‘t.

“Yep. It’s all fine, don’t worry about it,” she replied, giving him a slight smile. It felt weird lying to him, but what else could she have said? Daisy didn’t want to weigh him down with her problems, even though all he probably wanted to do was make her happier.

Huey smiled a little, knowing better than to press for information that someone was weary about sharing. 

“Well, alright. I just wanted to make sure.”  
It was a few minutes later when they heard a noise that sounded like an explosion. Daisy’s heart raced as it boomed, her gaze quickly turned to Huey, who was unfazed by the notion, giving her a gentle smile to reassure her that everything was fine and what happened was completely normal.

Louie came through the door, his hood up around his head and his hands in his pockets, mumbling something nobody could hear. Dewey came in a few moments later, rubbing his hands together excitedly as he turned to face Della. “I’m getting better, aren’t I?”

“A little bumpy, but yes, you’re doing amazing, Dewey. A few more tries and you’ll be flying the Cloudslayer like your mom.” Della praised, ruffling her son’s hair happily. Donald came in a minute later, trying to get his balance back, somewhat regretting going on this adventure.

How did he always fall for Della’s tricks? He should’ve known better than to even let his sister lead him onto that deathtrap they call a plane.  
Webby came in a few moments later, and as everyone took their seats, saw Daisy across the room.

“Oh my gosh, hi!” She ran over to Daisy, her eyes lighting up as she smiled. “I’m Webby!”

Daisy was slightly taken aback by the energy, but pushed it through a smile. “I’m Daisy,” she replied as the young duck took the seat on Daisy’s left.

“It’s so great to meet you!” She said, bouncing slightly in her seat from excitement. Seeing another girl in the house besides Della and her granny was great, and she started hoping they could do stuff together.

“It’s great to meet you too!” She replied, not sure what else to say.

Webby just giggled as she grabbed her fork to eat her food. Donald came in a few minutes later in a new shirt as the other had been slightly damaged from the ride back to the manor. He looked up, freezing almost immediately when he saw Daisy.  
Daisy, who had started to drink some of her water, noticed Donald out of the corner of her eye and slightly turned her head. She put the glass down and smiled shyly at him. There he was. Even with slightly singed sleeves, he still managed to take her breath away. Daisy knew how wrong it was going to be if she started falling for a duck who couldn’t even complete a full sentence around her, let alone one who would need constant saving. However, there was just something about Donald that drew her in, made her want to know more. How had he raised three boys all on his own? It was kind of attractive. Even though she wasn’t one to be a part of a family, knowing that someone valued his family over wealth, even his own personal wants and needs, was somehow intriguing and attractive to her. She smiled at the thought, seeing Donald holding Huey in his arms as a baby, rocking him to sleep, taking care of his injuries. It all was just so adorable to Daisy, and it pulled her back into who Donald was, and why she wanted to keep seeing him.

Donald waved slightly at her before going to sit in his seat. His gaze never left Daisy’s, his heart already pounding inside his chest. Was this a sign? Was there something more to this? It was true that Daisy was beautiful, there was no denying that. Just like the flower that she was named after, her looks were breathtaking. However, that was only part of what drew Donald into her. She had this spirit inside of her. She was spunky, confident, professional, and she carried herself with so much pride. He knew that she could hold her own, who she was, what she stood for, that’s what made Donald realize that he could be happy with her. She already got along with Huey so well. His nephew looked up to her so much. So what was he waiting for? If she got along with his nephews this well, what was stopping him from asking her out on a date? What was stopping him from bringing her a bouquet of roses? Or lillies? Or daisies? All he wanted to do was impress the girl he liked, all he wanted was for her to look at him with a gaze that conveyed that she felt safe with him. That’s all Donald wanted. He wanted to make Daisy feel loved, safe. He wanted to be the one to make her blush, to make her laugh. Donald wanted to be the one to make her speechless after he kissed her cheek. He wanted to be the one Daisy chose to share her everything with. Huey was about to ask Daisy a question, stopping himself as he saw the way his uncle was looking at her and how shy she seemed.

Della looked up at Huey, only to follow his gaze. She smiled to herself slightly, observing both Donald and Daisy for a few moments. “Hey, Huey,” she said in a quiet voice.

Huey turned his gaze away from his uncle and Daisy to look at his mom. “Yeah?” He whispered.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” She said with a smirk on her face, gesturing with her eyes towards the two adults she was just watching steal glances at each other.

“Are we gonna get them together?” Huey asked, a bright smile on his face. He was eager to try this again, seeing as though his attempt with Fenton and Gandra hadn’t worked out so well. But this was for his uncle and Daisy, who he already admired so much, so he was all in. He knew how much his uncle had sacrificed for him and his brothers, and all Huey wanted was for Donald to be happy, to put himself first for once.

Della winked in response, and picked up her fork. “We’ll talk later, alright?”

Huey nodded as to give her a silent okay so no one would hear and ask about what they were discussing. He took another sip from his water. Webby smiled as she looked at Dewey. “Dewey, let’s tell everyone about the adventure your mom just took us on, it was so cool!”

Dewey took a big gulp of his water, slamming it down on the table in a matter of excitement. He jumped up so he was standing on his seat, and placed a flipper on the table. “It _was_ so cool! I got to fly the Cloudslayer again on the way back! Can’t wait until Uncle Scrooge lets me become his next pilot!”

Scrooge just shook his head, smiling. “Not if you’re going to crash every time you won’t be.” He said. Huey tilted his head in confusion. “Where did you guys even go?”

“It doesn’t matter where we went, there was no treasure involved,” Louie responded, sounding quite regretful he decided to tag along. “The last what— five?— adventures haven’t had any type of reward! That’s completely throwing me off, and we need to fix it,”

Huey’s eyes shifted to the ground for a moment as Dewey and Webby kept talking about it. The topics of their conversations were always the adventures he was never a part of. It always made him feel left out when he couldn’t contribute anything to the conversation.

Daisy glanced around to the different ducks talking as they switched topics and added on to other things others were saying, her mind keeping up with everything even though she didn’t really understand most of the context. She glanced at Huey’s direction and noticed how unhappy he looked, and thought of something to say. It was a bit strange to see the kid this upset since he always had a smile on his face when they were together.

Huey played with the lasagna with his fork, sighing softly. This was normal. Everyone would start talking, not even taking the time to look in his direction. They were always so busy switching topics. Only a few things got to him, and even then no one ever realized it, so he wasn’t expecting anything different tonight.

Daisy nudged the kid with her elbow. “Hey,is everything okay?” She asked, not being able to ignore the concern she felt for the young one.  
Huey blinked a couple of times before looking up at her. He began to nod his head yes, but subconsciously started to shake it. “No, everything’s... everything’s not okay.” He whispered back.

She glanced around, not exactly knowing how to respond. “Uh... guess you don’t wanna talk about it here, then, huh?”

Huey shook his head again, it was the first time Daisy was seeing him truly upset over something. Usually, he could bounce back from anything, but this? This was a bit different. “Not really, no.”

Daisy turned back to her food, seeing as she was almost finished and then turned back to Huey and gave him a confused glance that he’d understand as “what do I do when I’m done”, as well as looking slightly apologetic to be changing the topic as quickly as she was.

Huey glanced at her plate, then at her. He smiled weakly, picking her plate up for her before getting out of his seat and walking to the kitchen. He had his plate in his other hand, having lost his appetite.  
Daisy followed him to the kitchen, not really sure what else to do.

Beakley took the two plates from Huey glancing at him as he noticed one of them had barely been touched. “Do you feel well, Huey?” She asked, to which he just shrugged. She stared at him for a moment, Daisy being seen in the corner of her eye. “Oh,” she turned to Daisy. “You must be the guest Mr. McDuck told me about, am I correct?”

Daisy was surprised at the lady’s formalness, and took a moment to respond. “Uh, yes,” she said, hiding the intimidation she felt fairly well. “I’m Daisy,” she added, sticking out a hand for her to shake.

“Bentina Beakley,” she replied, shaking the younger woman’s hand. Webby’s grandmother scanned Daisy for a second but kept smiling. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Huey watched their exchange quietly, not saying anything. It wasn’t that he couldn’t think of anything you say, he just… didn’t want to talk to anyone at the moment.

“You too,” she replied, smiling. She looked at Huey before following him out the door.

“You can go back to the dining room if you want,” He said, looking back at her. “I’m not really in the mood for dessert.”

“Oh,” she replied. “I think I should probably head home, anyways,” she took a moment to check the time on her phone. “Everything okay?” She decided to ask again.

Huey shook his head and sighed. “It’s just hard sometimes,” he began, “when you get left out, you miss everything, and I don’t know, it just sort of hurts... plus, I’m not really close with anyone in my family. I don’t know, it’s stupid.” Huey sighed, rubbing his arm softly. It was hard to watch her leave, he really needed to talk to someone at the moment. But he didn’t want to force her to stay, either. Huey knew that wouldn’t be right. She had somewhere to be in the morning apparently, and he didn’t want to be the one to keep her up all night and cause her to be exhausted the following day.

She frowned, and looked at the ground. “I’d hate to walk out on this, but I really should be going, I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow. How’s about a rain check? You can tell me all about this another time?” She suggested.

“Yeah, sure. I’m used to this anyways, it’s fine... thanks for coming over, Daisy.” Huey gave her a weak smile.

“Get some rest, kid,” she ruffled his hair a bit, looking down at him as she smiled before making her way to the front entrance.

Huey walked her to the front door so he could lock it up after she left. He stood quietly, not wanting to open his beak and have something come out harsh. He waved at her a little as she walked out of the manor, giving her a light smile before she disappeared out of his sight.

Huey walked back into the foyer of the manor, the sounds of his family’s laughter echoed from the other room. His feet treaded to the stairs, having lost all motivation to go back into the dining room. His stomach grumbled, reminding him that he had not eaten much at dinner. The wood panels he stepped on creaked ever so slightly while the eldest triplet walked down the hall. Things flew around his mind, each one coming and going in the span of two seconds. Why was he so wrapped up in a simple story? So what if he hadn’t gone on the adventure? Why was he letting it affect him this much? It was pathetic in all honesty.

Huey took a breath, shutting the door to his bedroom so he wouldn’t be bothered. Maybe going to bed early would settle his emotions, calm his body down so he wouldn’t be so worked up anymore. He quickly changed into his pajamas and climbed up the ladder to his bed despite the fact that it was only six-thirty in the evening.

—————————————-

Instead of following her evening plans she’d told Huey about, which would be going home and getting some sleep, she had something more important to do. Daisy walked up the steps to a thrift shop, opening the door and raising her eyebrows as she made eye contact with the shop owner, who gave her a nod. Business appeared to be slow today, but nothing changed in the process. She walked into the back and unlocked the door in the back room, stepping inside the lift to bring her down to the real main floor. She exited the elevator and made her way over to Gandra as soon she spotted her, greeting her friend with a simple, “Hey.”

Gandra looked up from her phone, a slight smirk on her face, which was normal for her. “Hey, good to see you again.” It had been a few weeks since the two girls had seen each other, each busy with their own mission. “Do you want to sit down and talk for a bit?”

“Have you gone in already?” She responded, shifting her purse strap up her shoulder.  
Gandra nodded. “Yep, I just came out. I’ve gotten pretty far, the people I’m using have no idea of my real intentions. What about you? How’s your mission going?”

Daisy hesitated for a moment, and then replied with a simple, “Same as you.” She decided to change the subject before Gandra led her down that road. “What about you and what’s his name again? Fenton?” She added with a sly and suggestive smile.

Gandra’s eyes shifted slightly, seeming as though she got a bit nervous at the mention of his name. “I haven’t really talked with him ever since that one night,” she admitted, though there was something about that fact that she didn’t like. After the whole Mega-Beaks incident, Gandra and Fenton hadn’t really talked much. He hadn’t tried to contact her, and vice-versa. It was rare for Gandra to feel some sort of guilt or regret, but when it came to what happened with Fenton, that’s all she could feel whenever she thought about him or his name was mentioned. There was never a moment where she didn’t think about where they would be if she hadn’t been working for Beaks that one night. Would they actually… be a thing? Would they be dating if she took out that part of the equation?

“Maybe you should seek him out,” Daisy suggested. “Clearly, apologize and everything. Might take a bit to heal the wounds but it’s worth a shot, right?”

“Yeah, I guess I should at least try and reach out to him. I just hope he’ll be willing to talk to me.” Gandra replied before crossing her arms. Seeing Fenton again was something she would highly consider. There were times where she would muster up the courage to make it to the front doors of McDuck’s money bin, but would immediately regret the whole thing and go home.

“Now tell me how your progress is coming along, have you infiltrated the manor? Tricked one of those little squirts?”

“I guess you could say that. I’m trying to find something to do while I’m not there. Any ideas?” Daisy decided to ask.

“You could go on a date,” Gandra shrugged. “It didn’t exactly work out for me, but it might for you. Has there been anyone you’re interested in?”

Daisy’s eyes widened and she tried to hold back her blushing as much as she could. How could Donald have this much of an impact on her? His name wasn’t even mentioned. It’s not like she imagined what a first date with him would look like. It’s not like she had the perfect dress in her closet just sitting there, waiting for the day he would ask her out and she would finally be able to wear it. No. No no no no. That was definitely not it… right? It’s not like he’d have the courage and sentence structure to even ask her. But what if he did? Would she even be able to speak if he did? Daisy wasn’t one to get nervous, but when she was around Donald, that’s all she was. True, she didn’t openly show it like he did, but she did become nervous whenever they were together. The way she saw it was, if anyone asked her if she loved him, she’d laugh, wave off the comment and tell them no. She didn’t love him. Even though it was an obvious lie. She was avoiding direct eye contact for a quick second, but steadily regained it before she hoped Gandra had noticed. 

“I mean...”

Gandra raised an eyebrow, a slight smirk appearing across her beak. “I’ll take that as a yes. Spill. Tell me everything you know about him.”

“Look,” Daisy responded, shaking away her flustered look and regaining a serious one. “It’s not like anything can happen between us, but if everything was different then... I don’t know. I shook his hand once and it just felt _right_ and I think he felt it too... and... the only advances I could make he’d be extremely hurt after it all... I still don’t know him that well, but I know I don’t want to hurt him in any way. It’s... complicated,” she finished with a sigh.

“Daisy, you can’t not want to hurt him. The whole point is to not get attached. Look, I know it’s hard, especially with how much you’ve wanted to be apart of something, but to keep yourself from getting hurt, don’t stray away from this path you’re on.” Gandra stated, sighing. She understood the circumstances, but things would go to hell if they didn’t follow FOWL’s orders.”

“Okay, well.... if I can’t get attached.... can I just rant to you about everything? About him? Just to get it completely out of my system? Whatever it is, it might be bad if it keeps growing, you know?”

“Whatever you need to do, go for it.” Gandra nodded, sitting down on the couch patting the empty spot next to her.

Daisy sat down and took a deep breath. “The first time we met was in a grocery store. I guess he was picking some stuff up, but I guess that’s what you do in a grocery store? Whatever, I had seen him before because of... well, you know, and I decided to go up and talk to him. As soon as I said hi, he must’ve been quite startled, because he dropped the orange juice carton he was holding on the ground,” she smiled as she reminisced about their first meeting. It kind of seemed like the perfect story grandparents would tell their grandkids about. 

“I picked it up for him and he looked... scared, but it felt like he usually reacted that way. I introduced myself and then he did the same, and we kind of just talked for a bit. Casual talk, you know, nothing special. He had a voice that I think most people would have an issue with, but I understood every word he said. And then we kind of parted ways, and that’s how we met,” she finished.

“Meet cute, adorable.” Gandra chuckled. “He sounds right up your alley,” she smiled slightly, seeming to remember that moment for her and Fenton. She would never admit that she missed him, how much she wanted to see him again. She shook her head to get the thought away. “So what’s this duck’s name anyways?”

“Oh, it’s Donald,” she responded almost immediately. 

“Agent Daisy Duck,” one the Buzzards called. She realized what she just told Gandra, but didn’t have time to correct herself on what she had just said. If Gandra knew she was getting attached, it wouldn’t be good.

“I’ll see you later, Daisy.” Gandra smiled, patting her shoulder gently before standing up. “Good luck on your mission, and with this Donald fellow.” She walked away, glad that her friend’s love life wasn’t down the drain like hers was. She took a deep breath and left the building, Fenton now being the only thing on her brain after their talk about their love life. The three buzzards walked up to Daisy, their arms crossed.

“Weekly report, right?” She asked.

“You guessed it. Come to our office.” One of them said, already starting back to the room.

She followed them inside and closed the door behind her, taking a seat on the opposite side the head of FOWL usually sat, and waited to be interrogated.

“We tasked you with getting yourself close to one of those wretched children, how is that coming along?” They began.

“I’d say as expected. He seems to rely on me for support more than I thought he would by now,” she responded smoothly.

“How often do you spend time together?” They asked, their demeanor not changing.

“I’m seeing him on Tuesday, and I spent three days with him this week, and I believe twice the week after we met,” she replied. “Do you think I should try to see him more often?”

“Yes, you should. It’s one thing to be friends, but to destroy this family, you have to really get close to this child, and then emotionally tear him apart.”

“Right,” she responded with some hesitation. “Will that be all?”

“Unless you have any questions for us,” one of the buzzards replied.

“Okay,” she responded. “So why are we specifically attacking this family on their own again?”

Silence. There was only silence as Bradford looked up from one of his papers. “Why would you even ask that?”

“I’m curious,” she replied.

“Well, you’re going to stay curious. It was written right in the contract, you should know better than to ask things you shouldn’t even have your beak in. Your job is to get us an easier way to destroy this family. The rest of it is none of your concern. And besides, once this mission is complete, not only will we terminate Scrooge, but those darling little nephews of his will be history, which includes the little squirt you’re manipulating. Just keep doing our bidding or things will get ugly for you. Your performance as a spy is repulsive as it is, so I suggest you shut your beak and play the part we assigned you. Am I clear?” Bradford stared at Daisy coldly, seeming to tower over her even though he was a few feet away from her.  
Daisy stood wide eyed, as she listened to her boss’ words. “Y-yes,” she managed to croak out, regretting anything she had said about anything.  
He stuck his finger out, pointing to the door. “Now get out and get back to your job. I’ve had enough of your nonsense.”

Daisy quickly stood up and left the room stating nothing else, only nodding before making her way out of the room. She exhaled as she closed the door and looked around for Gandra, but discovered her friend had left. She checked the time on her phone, reading it at 7:37 pm. She decided to start making her way back home as she made her way up to exit headquarters.

————————————

Gosalyn stood there next to Drake, tapping her fingers on the countertop. “Dad, we’re getting ice cream, not buying a house. It shouldn’t take over an hour to pick out a flavor.” 

It was kind of ridiculous how much time her father was taking to choose something that took her three minutes.

Drake scratched the back of his head, looking at the flavours again. “I know what _I_ want, but I just don’t know what I should get for Launchpad,” he replied, moving along the cases of possible flavours. “What do you think he’d like?”

“Something that will make his taste buds crash, like something with pop rocks on them, you know that candy that goes boom pow inside your mouth.” Gosalyn laughed, making the hand motions as she said ‘boom’ and ‘pow’.

“Maybe you’re right, but what if he doesn’t like it? Gah, what am I thinking? Okay, I think I’m ready,” he decided. “Are you ready, Gos?”

“I’ve been ready, Dad.” Gosalyn stated, crossing her arms over her chest. “Question is if you’re actually ready and if you’re right in the head. You know Launchpad likes anything you bring him.”

“That’s not true,” Drake responded, looking down at her. “What about that time I brought him that.... okay, maybe not then. But what about— ah, no, he uses that everyday... okay, maybe he does. But that streak can be broken at any moment! The last thing I want is to see him hate whatever I bring him,” he finished, taking glances at the flavours one more time.

“You’re way too in love with him, it’s sweet yet disgusting at how much affection you show sometimes.” Gosalyn said, smiling as she shook her head. She caught a glance at an older duck in a pink coat before turning back to the register in front of her.

“Hey! Everything between us is strictly professional, you know,” Drake responded quickly, not noticing his slightly flustered look. He knew exactly what his daughter was doing, she was playing right into his emotions and feelings. There was nothing going on between him and Launchpad anyways, the pilot was trying to have a thing with that purple alien lady. What was her name? Ah, nevermind it didn’t matter. It’s not like he was jealous or anything, right?

Daisy approached the parlour and walked in, not even stopping to look at the flavours before ordering her favourite, strawberry shortcake, which consisted of strawberry and vanilla ice cream swirled together. She then requested it to be in a cup instead of a cone. She patiently waited to receive her order as she looked around, noticing an adult duck who seemed vaguely familiar with a younger duckling by his side. She patiently waited to receive her order as she pulled out her phone to check the time again, only to put it back in her purse.

“Dad, your concept of professional is not what you think it is. If you really didn’t have feelings for him, it wouldn’t have taken you an hour to pick out a flavor for him,” Gosalyn then looked at Daisy and pointed at her. “It took her about half a second to figure out what she wanted. You have it bad, Dad. Compared to her, you took, I don’t know twice as long.”

Daisy couldn’t help but listen in, as she laughed at the girl’s comment. “I didn’t get anything for anyone else though,” she smiled as she responded.

“True, but you know what you want. Unlike my father over here,” she pointed over her shoulder at Drake. “You see what you want and you go for it. That’s super cool. You need to take notes from her, Dad.”

Drake rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Daisy couldn’t help but laugh. “You two seem to be very close,” she added, admiring how they teased each other.

Gosalyn nodded. “We are,” she smiled, glancing back at Drake as she became more sincere. “I don’t know where I’d be without him, actually,” she admitted, looking back at Daisy.

Drake smiled softly down at Gosalyn, ruffling her hair. “She keeps me in line. Best decision I ever made was to adopt her,” he said, not even glancing away at his daughter.

Gosalyn leaned into his hand gently, smiling brightly up at her father. She wasn’t one to cry, but if she was, she’d be tearing up right about now. “I never thought I’d get adopted, but even though I mentally and physically facepalm almost every time he speaks, I couldn’t ask for a better dad,” she replied, glancing up at Drake before looking at Daisy. 

“Do you have anyone like that in your life?”

Daisy’s mind wandered to Huey, and she just shook her head, deciding not to bring up the fact it’s strictly against the rules of her job to have any relationships without good reason inside the job. She took her ice cream from the employee and looked at the two again. “Really heartwarming story it must be. It was nice to hear a part of it,” she said genuinely, smiling at the two once more before exiting the ice cream parlour.

“Okay, let’s order,” Drake ruffled Gosalyn’s hair once more before approaching the counter. “I’ll get two scoops of chocolate marble in a cone, and then two scoops of superman with some pop rocks in a cup, and then whatever she wants,” he gestured over to Gosalyn as he moved out of the way.  
Gosalyn stared out at the door Daisy had exited, wondering why she didn’t answer the question she had asked her. It seemed like the woman had a longing look after she asked it, as if someone had come across her mind. Gosalyn blinked, turning back around. “Huh? Is it my turn?”

“Yep,” Drake replied.

“Oh, sorry.” Gosalyn said shaking her head before going to the counter, ordering a rocky road with pop rocks on it. “Thank you,” she told the employee.

“Hey, everything okay?” Drake asked as they walked outside, continuing down the path back home.

“I mean, I guess? I don’t know. There’s no problem, I’m just wondering why that lady didn’t answer my question,” Gosalyn replied, looking up at her dad.

“Sometimes people aren’t in the right position to answer questions like that,” Drake explained, “she probably has a lot going on right now. Could be in a difficult position, you never know. Maybe we’ll run into her again one day, and then she can answer you.”

“So it wasn’t anything I did? I thought I said something wrong,” Gosalyn replied, glancing down at her ice cream before returning her gaze back to Drake.

“You said absolutely nothing wrong,” he responded, keeping his eyes straight ahead. “I didn’t even think about having kids until I met you, you know.”

“Wait, really?” Gosalyn looked shocked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “What stopped you from having any?”

“Well, you know,” he cleared his throat. “I never really had a girlfriend, and most of my high school crushes were guys, and back then being bisexual wasn’t a very common or wanted thing, so that didn’t make dating easy. You know, I was also a theatre kid— which lowered the chances even more, and then you add on the passion for Darkwing Duck—“ he shook his head, realizing he was getting off track. “What I mean is I never found the right girl to have a family with and I never thought I’d be capable of raising a kid by myself. But here we are, with my kid sometimes raising me instead,” he added the last part with a chuckle.

“Well I don’t know why none of the girls didn’t wanted you, but Launchpad’s a lucky guy to have you now.” Gosalyn smirked to herself. “And Dad, I’m always raising you, let’s not forget who got you out of that deathtrap a few days ago.”

“Hey! It wasn’t a deathtrap,” he replied as they continued down the street. “I’ve never been trapped in a deathtrap,”

“What about last Wednesday? Do I really have to remind you of that?” Gosalyn questioned, rolling her eyes but smiling all the same.

“No, you don’t,” Drake muttered. “Let’s just move on from it, shall we?”

“Hey, we’ll move on from it when you stop giving me the opportunity to bring it up,” Gosalyn laughed slightly before nodding. “I’ll move on from it though if it really upsets you.”

“It doesn’t upset me!” Drake responded, clearly upset his daughter was the one to save him when it should be the other way around. “But it doesn’t matter anymore, let’s just get home.”

“Okay, how about this, next time you’re Darkwing, I’ll purposefully get myself kidnapped so you can save me and regain some of your confidence and ego,” Gosalyn decided before indulging herself into her ice cream to leave it at that for the time being.

“There’s no need for that,” Drake responded. “But maybe something smaller wouldn’t hurt....”

“Alright, I’ll go missing tomorrow. See you when you save me, Dad!” Gosalyn said before running into the house and up to her room for the rest of the night.

Drake rolled his eyes, smiling softly at his daughter. He walked inside his house, shutting the door behind him. “Launchpad, we’re back.” He called out, walking into the living room to find the pilot sitting on the couch, engulfed in a show on the TV.

The pilot looked away from the screen and over at the other male duck. “Welcome back, Drake!” he smiled, moving a bit so the other could sit down.

Drake gladly took the seat, handing the ice cream over to the sidekick. “I didn’t know what flavor you liked, so I just chose this one.”

Launchpad smiled, his eyes brightening at the flavor. “You actually chose my favorite,” he started before eyeing the pop rock candy. “Oh, pop rocks! Even better!”

Drake shook his head, sighing as he smiled. He made a mental note to thank Gosalyn later about the ice cream suggestion. Maybe she was right, it did seem like Launchpad would like anything he gave him. Maybe he’d bring him something absolutely disgusting and see if he’d react the same way.

Drake sat back against the couch, his head falling onto Launchpad’s arm over time. His eyes grew heavy to where he didn’t even notice that Launchpad had wrapped an arm around the shorter male to keep him warm and safe. His legs curled up against his body, the pilot’s heartbeat lulling him to sleep.

Launchpad looked down at Drake and smiled warmly, his head laying on top of the other’s as he fell asleep himself, the TV still on as neither of them had bothered to turn it off.

————————————

Huey rubbed his eyes as he walked down the sidewalk. He needed to get out of the manor despite it being dark outside. After Daisy left, he hadn't been in the mood to socialize anymore. He could still hear his brothers - more Dewey than Louie - ramble on about their adventure even from upstairs where he had hid himself. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much, but it got to a point where he climbed out of the window, just needing to go somewhere that his family wouldn't be at. That's why, even though the sun had gone down, he found himself going back to the hillside Daisy had shown him a few weeks ago.

Daisy approached her usual spot on the outlook of Duckburg, eating her ice cream as she continued down the path and took a seat on the bench, looking out at the city. It was a beautiful spot, it was serene, calm. It gave her time to clear her mind of things she’d rather forget.

Huey made it there in less than five minutes. He was still trying to wake himself up that he didn't notice Daisy was there as he plopped himself onto the empty side of the bench.

Daisy heard something to her right so she turned her head to see Huey. "Oh, hey," she said softly.  
"Hm?" Huey turned his head. "Oh, hi Daisy... I wasn't expecting you to be here this late." He rubbed his eyes before taking a deep breath. "Is everything okay?"

"Okay is the best word to put it. What about you?" She inquired, noticing his sadness.

"Eh... I could be better, but it doesn't matter. I can deal with it on my own like I usually do," Huey told her, shrugging slightly.

"Really, you can tell me anything," she replied.  
Huey looked at her quietly. "How long do you have? You don't have to go soon like last time do you?"

"No, I think you're the one who needs to go soon. Isn't it almost your bedtime?"

"Yeah, but no one will notice I'm not there. Besides, you're actually listening to my problems." Huey said.

"I'm sure that's not true. But go ahead," she offered.

"Well, alright... I don't know, I love my family, but they exclude me a lot. You saw it yourself at dinner tonight when my brother was talking about the adventure he went on with my mom. They didn't even invite me to it. I hate being left out of things, I don't know... I just feel... un-needed most of the time. I just feel like I'm not important sometimes. I try to convey this to them, but they always push me aside," Huey looked away from her, his knees being pulled up from his chest. "I'm sorry, it's stupid... I'll shut up now..." he closed his eyes to hide a few forming tears.

"No... it's fine. I'm kind of in the same position," she responded.

"Is there any way I can help?"

"You're already helping," Huey told her, sighing gently. "You have no idea how much your company makes me happy. It's hard to explain, but I really trust you, Daisy."

"Oh," she responded, stirring what was left of her ice cream. "Thanks I guess,"

Huey nodded slightly, looking at the cup in her hand. "What's in the cup?" He asked, hoping to change the subject to a more uplifting topic.

"Strawberry shortcake," Daisy responded before eating the last of it.

"Oh that's my favorite," Huey smiled, his feet swinging back and forth gently. "It's the best flavor they have to offer."

"I know, right? It's my favourite too," she smiled. "It's usually my go-to comfort food,"

"Comfort food? Did something happen today?" Huey asked, turning himself around so he was facing her, now sitting with his legs crossed on the bench.

“Yeah, kinda," she sighed. "It's complicated."

"How is it complicated?" Huey inquired. "You can tell me."

"No," she said, "I'd rather talk about something else."

"Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... never-mind." Huey breathed gently. It seemed that he had poked a nerve there. His eyes shifted to the ground slightly before moving back to her. "What do you want to talk about instead?"

"I dunno," she shrugged. "Anything, really.”

"Hm..." Huey tapped his chin lightly before remembering something. "You seem to really like my uncle Donald, would you ever go on a date with him?"

Daisy, who hadn't looked back at Huey for quite some time, looked somewhat shocked. "Uh.. why? Is he... asking?"

"No, I'm just curious. You guys seem to really like each other and I was just curious as to if he ever did ask you, would you say yes." Huey explained, gazing up at her.

"I- I don't know," she said softly. "What do you mean we seem to like each other?"

"I seem him smiling at you whenever you're over, and you get flustered each time. Excuse me if I'm wrong, but I just assumed you guys liked each other." Huey said, his fingers tapping against his leg lightly.

"I don't think you're wrong," she admitted, "it just seems a bit weird you're the first one to notice. Among other things."

"Other things?" Huey asked, tilting his head to the side a bit. "What sort of other things?"  
"It's kind of weird that you're the one I'm talking to about all this. You know, it's... never mind. Is there anything new with you?"

"Nothing major really," Huey shrugged slightly. "Meeting you is really the big difference in my life, and I quite like the change." He admitted with a smile.

"Really?" She responded, smiling back at him. "It's getting pretty late," she checked the time on her phone. "I think you should get a good night's rest."

"But I was enjoying this," Huey argued lightly, his head leaning against her arm gently, not even consciously doing so. "I like talking to you, just a few more minutes?"

Daisy bit her beak slightly as she felt the boy’s head touch her arm. She looked down, noticing that he was barely awake now. He looked so peaceful sitting there, as if he was finally getting some well deserved rest. She sighed, rubbing his hair gently before reluctantly making a decision.  
"Tell you what," she said, standing up. "I'll walk you home. How's that?"

"Mm, alright..." Huey slowly stood up, yawning lightly. He rubbed his eyes as they had begun to close, trying to keep them open.

She walked a bit ahead and turned, waiting for him to catch up. "You really are tired."

Huey only nodded in response, his stride a bit slower than hers, but he finally caught up. He rubbed his eyes again. "I hope I don't run into anything. My eyes can't stay open for much longer."

"It's okay, I'll guide you," she laughed. "TREE!" She yelled, trying to sound as serious as possible, but didn't know if he'd fall for it at all.

"WHAT?!" Huey gasped, tripping on air. He fell down to the ground after an attempt to halt himself, but ultimately failed. "D-did I miss it?"  
Daisy laughed and shook her head. "No, I'm just joking around."

Huey breathed heavily, his cheeks flushing lightly in embarrassment. "O-oh, heh... oops. Y-you really got me."

Daisy laughed again. "I know, I can see it." She smiled, helping the kid up before leading him along the path as they continued on their way  
Huey's head leaned against her arm over time, just letting her lead them down the path. He had to force himself awake every few minutes as he could hear himself start snoring every now and then.

"Hey, kid, we're here," She nudged him after a few minutes, standing on the front steps of the mansion.

"H-huh? Oh..." Huey pulled his head away, swaying slightly before trudging his exhausted body to the front door. He suddenly stopped, glancing tiredly back over at her. "Th-thank you, Daisy."

"Get some sleep, kid," she smiled at him.

Huey nodded lightly, yawning again. "See you tomorrow," he waved at her before trudging himself inside and closing the door.


End file.
